Farewell, Victory Diner

A lot of things that were supposed to last well beyond the end of October 2012 didn't, as we all know all too well.

One of them was the fabled Victory Diner, which was utterly destroyed by Superstorm Sandy.

It was to have become the centerpiece of a multimillion-dollar city initiative to transform the beachfront of Staten Island's East Shore into what Borough President James Molinaro was calling "The Fun Coast."

The project was to have been completed by the end of next year and be part of the legacy of Mr. Molinaro, who is leaving office next year.

Now, having sustained a direct hit by the wall of water that was Sandy's storm surge and heavy wind damage, it's hopelessly beyond repair.

Indeed, the entire project, including an adjacent splash plaza for children, has been put on hold as officials here and in City Hall grapple with the more urgent priorities heaped on them in the wake of the devastating storm.

The 1940s-vintage diner began its existence on Victory Boulevard and was later moved to Dongan Hills. But in 2007, the diner's owner wanted to retire and the owner of the property on which the diner sat decided he wanted to redevelop it as retail and office space.

However, he did graciously allow efforts to save the diner from demolition to go forward. And eventually, Mr. Molinaro, developer Randy Lee, the Richmond County Savings Foundation and the Advance put together the money to move the diner from Richmond Road.

Ultimately, it wound up just off Capodanno Boulevard in Midland Beach, destined to be a major part of the Parks Department's "Fun Coast" enhancement project. That move, which placed it right in the path of an historic storm, obviously led to its destruction: It's hard to believe it would have sustained the same level of damage had it been stored at an upland location.

Unfortunately, the Parks Department's failure to try to secure the structure against the weather — beyond placing a large tarpaulin over it — also contributed to its total destruction. The tarp was seen flapping in the breeze even before Sandy.

It's worth noting, too, that the Victory was the target of vandals in the several years it sat at the beach. The city didn't do much about that problem, either, beyond moving the diner across the park from near the beach closer to Capodanno and surrounding it with a chain-link fence. So the vandals had an opportunity to inflict their own measure of damage.

A Parks spokeswoman said of the overall beachfront renovation project, which was to have been completed already, "If we can move forward with this project it will certainly be delayed due to damage sustained during the hurricane,"

She maintained, "It's still too early to tell."

A disappointed Mr. Molinaro observed, "You have to measure that against everything else that happened here with Sandy . . . The priority is getting people into homes with heat, hot water and electricity."

He quickly added, "But that doesn't mean that life stops. We have to have positive things that show that we are coming back."

He's right, which is why we hope the city's renovation project gets back on track.

But even if it does, it won't include a restored Victory Diner, another dream shattered by the storm.